23rd anniversary of California Safe Schools (CSS), a celebrated children s environmental health and justice coalition
LOS ANGELES, Calif., April 22, 2021 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) â March 30, 2021 marked the 23rd anniversary of California Safe Schools (CSS), a celebrated childrenâs environmental health and justice coalition, founded by Robina Suwol in 1998 after grade school students, including Robinaâs two sons, were sprayed with the herbicide Princep, as they headed to class.
A school gardener in a hazardous materials suit, employed by LA Unified School District, unaware students were present, sprayed the herbicide creating a cloud of pesticide mist students were forced to walk through to reach their classrooms. Several parents who had dropped off their children at the school were alarmed to witness this event. Robinaâs youngest son, Nicholas, whose asthma had been under control, experienced a severe asthma attack after the incident.
January 19, 2021 The Ukiah Unified School District, the largest in the county, met last week for an update on distance learning and the governor’s not-yet finalized proposal to partially reopen schools by mid-February. The California Safe Schools for All plan is an incentive program that would give schools grants to bring kids back into the classroom.
And a letter signed by sixteen local doctors to Mendocino County leaders and representatives laid out in stark terms how detrimental distance learning has been for children, citing widening disparities in academic success and “more and more kids suffering from isolation, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, obesity and diabetes,” as well as an addiction to screens, social media and gaming. The letters’ signers include Dr. Drew Colfax of the regular KZYX Coronavirus Update, and Dr. Mark Luato, the county’s EMS medical director. It closes with the unambiguous exhortation that “Getting children back to in-person sch